The advanced level breaks away a bit from the themes of the other two levels. There are 5 senarios that are selected by the judges on the day of the trial. All of the senerios are listed on the Capital Cities website, so compeitiors know what they are getting into ahead of time... well, sort of...

Everyone who enters advanced is sequestered before the level starts. It was set up this way because at the beginner and intermediate levels, you have a chance to learn from previous competitor's mistakes... or brilliant ideas! So, to make the playing field 100% even, every person is the "first person on the field." That makes a big difference when you see how hard the tasks are.

So... you step on the field to find your first senario is...

Help Help, I've Been Shot!You send your dog on the bad guy down field

this one was live... OUCH!

...unless you are quick on your feet and run for cover! (but you still have to send your dog!)

Then a friendly policeman arrives to help you, and you recall your dog to you. You must prevent your dog from biting the friendly officer, then hook the leash up to the dog, hand the leash to the officer and the dog must walk away with them.

Next, you are heading back to that speak easy, but this time, you have to carry that umbrella with you. And in advanced, your dog is off leash. Your friendly decoy hands you your hood, and once you are in covered and on your way, you are informed that you are making a stop on the way.

Your next task is an object guard, on a park bench, with a hood on, guarding an object that you can't see, and that you are not allowed to hold on to...

Your guide brings you to the bench and shows you by touch where the bag is. You can touch it to feel where it is, but that is all. Where ever you sit in relation to the bag, the decoys orient themselves opposite you.

Two decoys argue loudly at the far end of the bench.

The other sneaks in and steals the bag.

your dog is supposed to bite the one that steals your bag.

One person had a very ingenious way to keep track of their bag that was well within the guidelines! Quick Thinking!!

After the bench was the sit under the sprinkler. Having the umbrella was good, if the dog was under it when the rain started!

Next was a relaxing horse drawn taxi ride around the field.

When you arrive at your desination, you are helped out of your taxi by your friend. You talk with them, and head towards the pool

The next senario is "Friend or Foe"

You give your dog a release command, and the dog is allowed to go play in the pool or do whatever it wants. (It is not supposed to bite your friend)

But then your friend becomes aggressive, and your dog must defend you against them.

After friend or foe, you step into the pool with your dog to cool off.

Isn't it nice to be tall?

From across the field, a decoy begins yelling at you. You are told to hold on to your dog and fire them up.

Then, you have to let go of them, and heel towards the decoy, your next senario is "serial killer."

You and your dog are in your car, and are approached by a friendly officer

You are talked to, then told to get out of your car, frisked and then "cuffed"

(Just as you are about to be led away, you find out that this is your call off exercise)

When you pass the barrel, you see the sign telling you that the police officer is really a serial killer! you call your dog to come and save you! But before your dog arrives, the bad guy gives up, so you must call him off.

And your final exercise is your grumpy neighbor, who is sure that your dog is the one who has been ruining their lawn. He starts yelling at you, and then begins threatening you. You send your dog to protect you.

And that's the 2010 DSO!

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.

Ok, I know I "gush" about this tournament, but I really wish more of you could be there to experience it. Even if you don't compete (which is nuts, if you're going to make the trip, you might as well try it out! )

But even if you don't do protection, you can learn so much from watching the handlers at the advanced level.

The best part about it is that if you compete and your dog gets upset about something, they stop - even at the advanced level - and problem solve until your dog gets it right, or alter the exercise so that your dog completes it a "winner."

So... who is coming next year?

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.

TheRedQueen wrote:We'll be there next year...John and Sawyer have something to prove now.

They did great. I think Sawyer was just weirded out, the minute John wasn't wearing a garbage bag he came right up to where he was supposed to be walking...

Nah...he wasn't weirded out by that...because that sort of thing ...he doesn't care about it. Besides, they did a test drive before their turn, and Bean had no problem. He follows behind when there are people around...so having the decoy and judges all nearby, he fades to the back and follows...he does it all of the time. He does it off-leash too...so it doesn't have anything to do with the leash either. It's just something he thought up on his own. I can crowd him into following, if I step close enough to the scooter while we're out. And because John had to hold onto the decoy's arm, he didn't have a free hand to get Bean back to heel like usual.

"I don't have any idea if my dogs respect me or not, but they're greedy and I have their stuff." -- Patty Ruzzo

"Dogs don't want to control people. They want to control their own lives." --John Bradshaw

The stresses of the DSO often bring out unexpected behaviors from dogs (and handlers! ) you can't train for this stuff! Well, unless you train with Cheryl, who doesn't train "for" the DSO, but she trains her classes for life so her students tend to be prepared.

Oh, and we may have found decoys!

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.

OMG... I would LOVE to try this w/my extremely *untrained* Sepp... It looks like so much fun.

Oh, and do the dogs who participate in the second part HAVE to be trained in Protection if they want to score any points? I'm pretty sure Sepp would "defend" me against an unruly stranger without ever having been trained to do so...

amazincc wrote:Oh, and do the dogs who participate in the second part HAVE to be trained in Protection if they want to score any points? I'm pretty sure Sepp would "defend" me against an unruly stranger without ever having been trained to do so...

Nope.

In beginner, they do thing in the car - which just about every dog on the planet will bark at someone who is yelling at them outside of a closed car. And you can practice beforehand.

Civil on a tie out takes a little practice, but most dogs will do that as well if they think their handler is being threatened as well.

And the third part - the handler defense bite - can be tailored to the individual dog. Some dogs who are just starting out in protection do it with a sleeve or even a tug.

Remember, the judges don't know you, so they don't know what your dog is or is not trained to do. However, the only if your dog is not trained it should not be allowed to "just bite" in a trial situation.

Part of bitework training is targeting, and as you can see in the first few pictures of this thread, even advanced dogs make mistakes - and those mistakes send decoys to the emergency room for 7 stitches. In the intermediate pictures, you saw that Riggs bit during his obedience, that was somewhat expected ( ) but the decoys were aware of it because he's got his lovely little reputation, especially for not letting go. He'll bite whatever is moving and if the decoy presents a poor target he'll go up the sleeve because he's a stubby little thing, and not a "high flier" like Connor and a lot of the Malinois.

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.

Sepp wouldn't bite anyone (I don't think), but he'd do a LOT of circling and barking, and try to "herd" the stranger away from me, or just guard him/her in one spot.

I do think he would have a lot of fun w/Protection Training in a controlled situation, w/a knowledgable trainer, but... no such thing where I live. And I think Faust would rock the first part... pretty much nothing really fazes him, especially not water in any form. Very solid temperament and disposition plus mostly solid OB, if I do say so myself.